Bifacial PV Technology Ready for Mass Deployment
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Bifacial PV Technology Ready for Mass Deployment The deployment of bifacial PV technology is growing rapidly. Although the concept is not new, it has been a niche technology for many years with uncertainties in predicting performance and optimizing installations. This paper provides a comprehensive introduction into all aspects of bifacial PV technology with a special fo- cus on risks industry buyers and investors should pay attention to. For advice and assistance with bifacial PV technology please contact your local PI Berlin representative or send an email to [email protected]. ■ A good overview on the history of bifacial PV Introduction can be found in a presentation by Cuevas called ‘The Early History of Bifacial Solar Bifacial solar cells are not a new concept. In principle Cells’1. In the late 1990s Siemens Solar, then every solar cell is bifacial as long as its rear side is one of the top PV module producers in the not coated in any way that prevents light passing world, was producing a 4’’ mono-crystalline through. The very first solar cell ever presented to solar cell in large volumes that also happened the public in 1954 was in fact bifacial. to be bifacial. The feature was however never used or promoted or even mentioned – but the solar cell was in fact bifacial. ■ Around 2004 SunPower was working on a bi- facial version of its famous A-300 cell. A prototype series was produced but never made it to mass production. ■ Before 2010 Panasonic offered a bifacial ver- sion of its hetero-junction technology based Figure 1: Patent application solar energy converting appa- solar module and sold under the brand ratus from 1954. SANYO at the time. The fact that a lot of people believe bifacial PV is a Bifacial Solar Cell Technologies new concept is due to the fact that for more than a decade the ‘aluminum back-surface field’ (Al-BSF) In the PV industry today, bifacial technology is one has been the predominant solar cell technology. Al- of the key ways to further improve annual energy BSF cells do not let light through the thick aluminum yield of a PV system and further reduce the levelized layer on the backside of the cell. However, the first cost of energy (LCOE). This is driven by the fact that active bifacial solar cells were produced 10 years all advanced solar cell technologies beyond Al-BSF ago and were commercially available as bifacial are bifacial, or can be made bifacial with very minor modules. Most bifacial development at that time changes. One of the key factors in achieving higher was conducted by Japanese companies like Hitachi solar cell efficiencies is an effective passivation of or PVGS - a pioneer in bifacial technology. Some the solar cell rear side. Most passivation layers such small producers, such as SolarWind from Russia, as SixO or AlxOy are also transparent. However, the tried to push “bifaciality” into the PV market. Some rear side efficiency of the bifacial cell can vary signif- large solar players were also working on bifacial icantly - differences in solar cell technology technology: Siemens, SunPower and Panasonic, for influence bifacial properties. There are three domi- 2 example. nant technology concepts that have unique bifacial properties: p-PERC, n-PERT and Hetero-Junction technology (HJT). 1 Andres Cuevas et al.: The Early History of Bifacial Solar 2 There are several more concepts in series production Cells, 20th PVSEC such as p-PERT or n-PERL but at least for now these are more uncommon approaches ©2019 PI Photovoltaik-Institut Berlin AG | PI Berlin North America, LLC 2 Bifacial PV Technology: Ready for Mass Deployment p-PERC technology the development of HJT-based products and turn- key production lines are now available. It is ex- p-PERC has quickly become the dominant solar cell pected that with an increasing volume of HJT solar technology. Only minor changes in manufacturing cells, costs for the manufacturing equipment will processes are required to achieve a bifacial p-PERC also come down. Along with the fact that the cost solar cell. However, a fine grid of aluminum (Al) still for n-type wafers is getting closer to that of standard needs to be printed on the rear side of the cell in p-type wafers, many believe that HJT technology order to ensure impurity trapping where the Al is in will in the long run become the dominant solar cell contact with the p-type Si wafer. These Al ‘fingers’ technology. lead to some shading of the solar cell´s rear side, and limit the bifacial coefficient1 to 70 to 80 % for p- PERC based solar cells. Design Options for Bifacial PV Modules n-PERT technology Most bifacial modules are designed with a double- N-type wafers have some conceptual advantages glass construction. This has been an industry trend over p-type wafers such as a longer carrier lifetime developing in parallel with bifacial PV. Double-glass and the absence of boron in the bulk wafer material modules do not need to be equipped with a sup- which avoids light-induced degradation. This is why porting aluminum frame because the double-glass n-type solar cells typically achieve higher conversion laminate itself is mechanically very stable. Remov- efficiencies than p-type cells. No Al is required on ing the frame can be a cost advantage for the the rear-side of the solar cell which makes all n-type manufacturer over the standard module design, but solar cells bifacial by nature. Nevertheless, since n- care must be taken in packaging, handling, racking type wafers are more expensive and the cell manu- and installation of the module to avoid damage and facturing processes are less widely applied, n-type cracking of the glass edges. Tempered safety glass is solar cells are sold at a premium. For most n-type tough against mechanical impacts on the front-side solar cells, the bifacial coefficient is however in the but the edges are sensitive to catastrophic fracture range of 90 % which is 10 to 20 % higher than p- of the glass. This is a reason why the more conven- PERC type cells. tional design approach with a single front glass and a (transparent) backsheet together with an alumi- Hetero-Junction technology (HJT) num frame has been adopted by some bifacial HJT solar cells have a very different architecture. Alt- module manufacturers. hough the number of manufacturing steps is low, There is no obviously better design between double the Cost of Ownership (COO) is high because more glass or single glass with a transparent back-sheet. sophisticated and expensive production equipment Both options have pros and cons, and the total sys- is required. The process also requires high-quality, tem design and installation process must be more expensive n-type wafers. However, HJT cells considered in making a decision. are very attractive because they have higher effi- ciencies than other p- or n-type technologies as well Specific attention must be paid to the electrical ter- as a very high bifacial coefficient of >90 %. Accord- minations and junction box on the module. Early ing to a recent article in TaiyangNews,2 Sunpreme´s commercial bifacial modules were equipped with product leads all commercial bifacial modules today one regular, large junction box which covered the with a bifacial coefficient of 95%. rear-side of some of the solar cells. Nowadays al- most all bifacial modules are equipped with three The former SANYO (now Panasonic) HIT module was small boxes on the edges of the module which pre- the first commercially successful HJT module. A bi- vents any partial rear-side shading of the bifacial facial version was commercially available back in cells. 2000. After patents on the technology expired in 2010 other companies launched R&D programs for 1 bifacial coefficient: Ratio of efficiency of the front- 2 TaiyangNews: Bifacial Solar Module Technology (Edition side of a bifacial cell relative to the rear-side 2018) The leading technical advisor, risk manager and quality assurance provider for PV plants and equipment 3 Bifacial PV Technology: Ready for Mass Deployment used exclusively for ENEL projects and may not be available to the open market. HJT-based modules are usually offered at a higher price point than other modules which makes them potentially less attrac- tive for large investor-driven projects but more attractive for smaller scale residential or commer- cial systems where bifacial makes sense. Figure 2: typical arrangement for junction boxes on bifacial PV modules. Currently the most common type of bifacial mod- ules are based on mono-crystalline p-PERC In order to retain the typical 1 to 3 % boost in front technology. Almost all major brands have such a side power resulting from light being reflected from module available. After a slow start with p-PERC bi- the ‘white’ space between the cells in standard facial modules, with SolarWorld the first to modules, a recent trend in bifacial modules has introduce them at a reasonable commercial scale, been to use a rear glass with a white reflective pat- most mainstream manufacturers are now con- tern. This is a simple and low-risk way to keep a vinced about the market potential of bifacial transparent rear-side without compromising front modules with some now driving intensive marketing side performance. campaigns. Although not the highest performing bifacial mod- ules in terms of efficiency and bifacial coefficients, the fact they are produced in larger volumes gives p-PERC-based bifacial modules the highest market share of all bifacial technologies, as well as the most credibility among financing entities. The “middle class” in terms of performance (and also price positioning) are the n-type based bifacial modules.